


it's the canvas

by fauchevalent



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: F/F, Requests, it's not sexual but it's quite flirty, this is just.... a very gay artist fic....
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-21 20:54:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7404175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fauchevalent/pseuds/fauchevalent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Well, I thought that maybe, since you haven't gotten to practice runes on any real people, just your sketchbook, you could practice on me."<br/>Clary gapes at the thought. Going from pencil to stele and paper to body all at once is a big jump. She voices her concern, and Izzy's lips curve up. "Well, that's too bad. I did want you to get a chance to practice -"<br/>"My paints." Clary interrupts, and Izzy's eyebrows furrow in confusion. "They're not as big of a jump, from pencil to paint. And you can wash it off later," she adds, "when I inevitably mess up."</p>
            </blockquote>





	it's the canvas

**Author's Note:**

> i don't own this, blah dee blah dee blah. i am a giant gay and this is a giant gay fic. isn't life great

Clary has grown close enough with the other shadowhunters to know that they often put runes on each other - she's watched Alec swirl his stele into the familiar cross-like pattern of a calm rune across Jace's wrist before cleaning up his injuries, watched Jace etch  _strength_ onto Izzy's arm before they head out, even seen Lydia help Alec with the runes that fall across his back.  
She doesn't take offense to the fact that she's never been asked to help.  
Clary's new, she knows this, and she's still a fresh threat in their minds. Besides, sometimes, Jace helps her with the runes she can't reach, or Alec will use a healing rune on her when it's called for. Clary doesn't expect any more from them.  
The only time Clary's ability to make runes is ever brought up is by Izzy, at various points in time, when she spots Clary doodling them in her sketchbook. "Careful with that one," she'll say, raising an eyebrow, or, "now  _that's_ what I call a Clarity rune," with a smile painting it's way across red lips.

It's a hot summer day, when Clary is too warm and sleepy by the power of the sun to do anything, when she hears Izzy's laughter ring out in the hallway. It happens just as Clary begins to pass by Izzy's room, and she hears Izzy call out, "Clary, come here for a second?"  
She finds herself curious why she's needed - after all, there's no demon battling planned, is there? She asks Izzy as much as she pushes open the door, and earns only a smirk in reply. Izzy is sprawled out in a lounge chair, feet propped up on an ottoman, and she crooks a finger in Clary's direction, tapping the arm of the chair. Clary takes the hint and the seat, peering down at Izzy ( which she doesn't often get to do ) with a small frown. "What's up, then?"

Izzy sighs dramatically.

"It's so hot, isn't it?" She asks, which Clary doesn't really find to be an answer to her question so much as ducking away from it, but she nods anyway.  
"Yeah," she agrees, "it is."  
"You know, I couldn't even do my runes today. I considered it, and then I thought to myself - why get so sweaty for no good reason?"  
Clary nods. She hadn't done hers either, for that very reason ( though she suspected Isabelle Lightwood had a goal in mind here ). "What's your point, Izzy?"  
"You know," Izzy says, continuing on as if she hadn't spoken, "I thought, there's this lovely artist in the institute - so why not stay cool  _and_ entertain us both?"  
"Does this have  _anything_ to do with your runes?" Clary replies dryly, raising an eyebrow.  
"Well, I  _thought_ that maybe, since you haven't gotten to practice runes on any real people, just your sketchbook, you could practice on me."  
Clary gapes at the thought. Going from pencil to stele and paper to body all at once is a big jump. She voices her concern, and Izzy's lips curve up. "Well, that's too bad. I did want you to get a chance to practice -"  
"My paints." Clary interrupts, and Izzy's eyebrows furrow in confusion. "They're not as big of a jump, from pencil to paint. And you can wash it off later," she adds, "when I inevitably mess up."  
"Hey, I'm sure you're great at runes. You draw perfect ones in your sketchbook." Izzy assures her, and Clary smiles. "I'll go get them." She says softly, heading quickly to her room and returning with one, ruddy tube of paint, a paintbrush, and a palette.  
"Ooh," Izzy smiles, examining Clary's items, "Fancy. I even get a palette." Clary blushes the color of her paint tube and mumbles some sort of excuse, but she hardly has any time to recover from that before Izzy is peeling off her shirt and walking over to her bed, causing a whole new flood of color in Clary's cheeks.  
"What - why are you taking off your shirt, Iz?"  
"If you're going to practice, you need to practice on the right places." Izzy replies matter-of-factly. Clary tries not to think about the fact that most of Izzy's runes are on her arms, and none of them on her back, but her traitorous mind keeps going there.   
 _Maybe she wants you to see,_ her brain thinks, and Clary rolls her eyes at herself.  _Oh, yeah, sure. Isabelle Lightwood is just taking off her clothes to get me to notice her. She's probably just hot. In temperature! Not that she's not attractive..._  
Clary stops her mind's ramble in it's tracks, following Izzy to her bed and standing beside it. "Could you turn right?" Clary asks, already thinking about the first rune. "Uh, my right." She amends, "the rune is on your right." The first bit of paint comes out of the tube and onto her palette and Clary imagines the Deflect rune in her head, shapes it against Izzy's neck with her eyes. When she's sure she's got it right, Clary dips her paintbrush into the paint and draws the first line, then the second, then the third.   
"Ooh." Izzy murmurs, "That's cold."   
"Don't move too much," Clary chastises, but Izzy's shiver has already sent paint dripping towards her collarbone. Eyes locked on the dribble of paint, determined to get the edges just right, Clary uses her thumb to catch the paint, cleaning up the remnants with her other fingers and nails until the lines are stele perfect.  
She's so focused she doesn't notice Izzy's second shiver ( lighter, softer ) at her touch, just leans in to clear up the new drips. 

Two hours and seven 'runes' later, some of the first ones Clary painted are drying and cracking, and Izzy's hair has been scooped into a bun to move it off her shoulders.  
"Almost done," Clary mumbles, and Izzy smirks, like she has some sort of plan and Clary is falling right into it. "What?" Clary asks, tucking her paintbrush behind her ear and wiping a bit of paint off on her cheek.  
"Oh, nothing." Izzy singsongs, and Clary raises an eyebrow.  
"Isabelle Lightwood -" She begins, and before she finishes her sentence, Clary remembers where Izzy's last rune usually is.  
An Angelic rune that sits right above Izzy's breasts, usually dipping down into the collars of her shirts, the thought already has Clary turning red.  
Izzy makes it worse when she adjusts her position, scooching up on the bed, rolling back her shoulders so her chest is easily accessible, and saying, "Just sit wherever you need to," which Clary knows must be a way to make her even more embarrassed ( okay, it  _works_ \- so what ), so Clary takes advantage of the situation and shoves herself directly between Izzy's legs, watching Izzy's cheeks tint with color.   
She smiles innocently.  
"This is good," Clary says, watching Izzy's eyes trace her movements as she dips her brush in more paint, purses her lips, and examines her canvas. She traces the shape's outline lightly before settling in, and Clary leans in to finish the curves of the rune.  
This is when Izzy also leans in, pressing her lips against Clary's and letting their noses knock as she does so.  
Clary is too shocked to react immediately, too busy thinking  _oh my god, my hand is really close to Izzy's boob and also we're kissing,_ so that when Izzy pulls away, she looks nervous and begins, "I'm - uh, I'm sorry, Clary. I misread the situation, and you were just really pretty with your hair hanging around your face focused on me like that, and you totally were only looking at me as an artist, I'm so sorry -"  
It takes Clary that long to reorganize her thoughts ( getting past  _she kissed me!_ to  _she doesn't realize i wanted her to kiss me!_ ) before she leans back in, bracing herself around Izzy with one hand and letting the other lean against Izzy's neck, just between two runes she's painted. Clary feels Izzy relax and smile into the kiss, scooping a hand under Clary's chin to keep her close as they separate again. "If I'd have known painting was such intense foreplay for you, I would've had you doing it earlier," Izzy teases, and Clary swats at her. "It wasn't the paint," she murmurs, breaking to kiss Izzy again, "it was the canvas."


End file.
